Hand-to-hand combat has been around since nearly the beginning of recorded history. Boxing as an organized sport can be traced back to the Olympic games in BC 688. From the prizefights of the 16th-18th centuries boxing developed mainly in Great Britain and later in the United States.

A boxing match has up to 12 rounds of three minutes each. The fighters typically get one minute between each round for some quick advice and attention in their assigned corners from their coach and staff.

There is a referee in the ring who has multiple functions. These include judging and controlling the conduct of the boxers , authority to rule on boxers’ ability to fight safely, and to rule on fouls. The referee is the one who makes the count when a fighter has been knocked down.

Boxing matches are intense but short compared to other sports. Title bouts since 2004 have averaged only 20 minutes. Most bouts had ended by the first half of the 5th round.

In the last 100 years exceptionally good boxers have arisen from around the world. They have come from countries such as the USA, Philippines, Germany, Sweden, Russia and Mexico. These boxers not only have style but have shown strength, endurance, speed, and strategy. Some have accumulated impressive win records including numerous KO’s (knock outs). These boxers inevitability end up fighting other comparable boxers in their weight division for a title and prize money.

These notable fighters and these significant matches can be also characterized by great public interest. This has resulted in large audiences and expensive tickets. Because of the caliber of these fighters, their bouts are sometimes called the “World Series of Boxing” and draw much attention. These matches are expensive to view, especially if you want a ring-side seat. Because of the volume and cost of tickets there are millions paid out in prize money.

The most significant match in 2015 is the big fight between Manny Pacquiao and WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather. This fight has been called “The Fight of the Century” and is expected to break every revenue record in combat sports history. It could easily surpass $400 million. It is believed that there will be 3 million pay-per-view buys in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. An individual viewer on TV/cable can expect to pay $100. Being the defending champion, Mayweather is the assured financial winner. His take could be $180 million whether he wins or loses the fight.

THE BIGGEST FIGHT

But most of us don’t realize that the biggest fight occurred over 20 centuries ago. It was between the top fighter of all time and against an opponent who was very skilled, powerful, clever and capable. It was a fight between a man and a rejected angel. What? We may ask, “Why not a fight between two men? Why a fight between a man and an angel? How and why did this kind of fight come about?”

From before time it has been God’s intention to make man as the head of all things. God’s intention is that even the angels would be subject to men. God had predestined some of mankind to receive His life that they would enjoy and express Him. The angels were created by God to help man to arrive at this goal.

But some angels rebelled. They became proud and ambitious. They didn’t want to stay in their position and rebelled against God. Lucifer, the highest angel, commonly known as Satan, took the lead to rebel. Satan was envious of God’s position and jealous of man. Satan sought to exalt himself, not only above man but above God. Since man is made in the image of God to express God, Satan pours out His hate for God on man. Satan does whatever he can to deceive, corrupt, damage and destroy man.

THE EVIL STRATEGY

Satan, besides exalting himself, had the aim to gain man for himself and damage, or at best, destroy man. Satan has subtly sought to gain man’s worship, which should have been directed toward God.

Right away, after the first man was created, Satan attacked, but in a subtle way. Satan’s subtle strategy was to get man to eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil so that by eating the fruit of that tree Satan with his life and nature was able to get into man—into man’s body. “Through one man sin [singular+ entered into the world” (Rom. 5:12). With the first man, the father of the created race, Adam, Satan won a victory

THE RAT TRAP

But God was not caught unawares of Satan’s strategy. God in His foresight and wisdom knew all that was going to happen. Thus God had already planned a way to trap and deal with Satan. God would not do this directly, but He would use man to carry out His plan to rid the universe of Satan and his destructive chaos. Like a wise “pest exterminator” God used the first man, Adam, as a “rat trap” to catch Satan. Satan thought he had captured man, but man was God’s “bait” to catch Satan. As with boxing each fighter has his strategy. Satan thought he was clever to get into man. But unknown to Satan, God had a wise and unique strategy. God used man to trap Satan.

THE SECOND MAN

Initially it appeared that God had been defeated and man had been gained by Satan. The first man had become polluted and contaminated with Satan’s life and nature.

But God’s way is to have a second man—Jesus Christ. This man is very unique. He is God incarnate, having both the human and the divine natures. He was the mingling of divinity and humanity. By being born of a virgin He was without the life and nature of Satan that every other man has.

This fight is not like today’s boxing where the person who wins is the one who has the most points accumulated from the judges through the various rounds, or the one who knocks out his opponent. No. With this fight it is a fight to the death. The one who lives is the winner. Satan’s strategy was not just to hurt Jesus but to kill him. On the other hand God stepped out of eternity to be a man in the “ring” of time for the express purpose to defeat, to terminate, to destroy the devil.

THE UNDERDOG

God likes to see the underdog win. He likes to see the small defeat the big. He likes to see the weak defeat the strong and mighty. God likes to see people put their trust in Him and not in their natural capacity, strength or abilities.

Compared to angels, man is small and fragile. Jesus, as a man was made a little inferior to the angels. But God used this little lowly man, Jesus, to defeat the powerful rebellious angel, Satan.

A PRE-SCHEDULED EVENT

The date of the “big fight” was scheduled according to God. He even arranged the “fight” to be on a certain day and in a certain city. God planned this event centuries before. He worked out many environmental matters to bring all the needed participants together for this big event.

MILLIONS OF SPECTATORS

In the visible realm the politicians, the religionists, the friends, relatives and disciples were all gathered for what they thought was the last round of this universal bout. In the unseen realm, the whole universe including God, millions of good and fallen angels, and even the demons were observing this fight.

This was a life or death match. It seemed Satan was winning because through the Jews he had motivated the Romans to put Jesus to death.

Who wins would have eternal significance. What was at stake was not a few hundreds of millions of prize money but the lives and destinies of billions of people.

IS THE FIGHT OVER?

On the “score card” it looked like Jesus was losing. Nearly everyone considered Jesus was finished. He had been severely beaten. He had multiple open bleeding wounds not only in His hands and feet. He was exhausted. Finally He died. Had He lost? Was that the end of the fight?

ON THE COUNT OF THREE A BIG SURPRISE

Jesus had a big surprise in store for the fight observers. He specially had something very unexpected in store for Satan! Yes Jesus had been killed, but the fight was not over. The one-two-three count started on the day of His burial. But low and behold on the count of three, on the third day, the Lord Jesus resurrected! Wow! Amazing! The dead fighter came back to life to win!

Satan thought that by killing Jesus he would win the universal fight and gain and keep mankind for himself. He could remain the god of this world. But Satan failed to realize that, when God was incarnated as a man, Jesus put upon Himself the old creation. When Satan entered mankind through Adam, he got trapped in mankind. Then on the cross when man, as the trap was killed, so was the rat in man killed. What an amazing strategy! The trap was killed and the rat was too! Jesus Christ by His death on the cross destroyed the devil. By His physical death and resurrection Jesus Christ did not KO Satan, but He KD’d Satan. Jesus Killed Satan Dead! Through death Jesus destroyed the Devil! “That through death, He [the Lord Jesus] might destroy him, who has the might of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14b).

OUR APPLICATION – LET THE WINNER WIN FOR US

Maybe before today you hadn’t heard this amazing news. But Jesus Christ’s victory is not only tremendous historical news but His victory has profound application to us today. Christ by His resurrection changed His form and He has become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:5b). Now all that Christ is and has accomplished is available to us.

What “fights” are you having in your human life? Fears? Anxiety? Emptiness? Depression? Darkness? Christ the Victor is the life that overcomes Satan, sin and death. Jesus Christ not only has resurrected but ascended, and He is now far above all. He is now much superior to all the angels. When we contact Jesus Christ we get “plugged in” to His dynamic resurrection and ascension. There is no need for us to fight and struggle to overcome all these negative matters. Rather we should call His name and contact Him, the Victor. His name is above every name. “God highly exalted Him *Jesus Christ] and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). To call the Lord’s name is to contact Him as a person. We can enjoy all the riches of who He is and His attainments by calling on Him. “For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him” (Rom. 10:12b).

CONTACTING THE WINNER

Here is a simple conversation [prayer] we can make to contact THE VICTOR. Speak this aloud to the Lord Jesus. “Thank You Lord, that You fought the fight and You won. Thank You that You destroyed Satan on the cross. Thank You that You are the Spirit today. I ask You to come into my being, into my spirit. By your life begin to defeat every negative thing in me. Begin to defeat any of Satan’s chaos in my life and my friends’ and family’s lives. Make me a testimony of Your victory. Show in me that You are THE VICTOR. Join me with those who enjoy Your victory in their daily life.”

John 4 begins with Jesus NEEDINGto go through Samaria (v. 4). Now that it’s clear that God has a need, let’s move on to what God needs and how He gets it.

In my post God Milk? I talk more about what God needs. God needs us to believe into Him! It hurts Him when we don’t believe. This is why Jesus goes way out of His way to visit a woman at a well in Samaria. She eventually believes into Him and brings the entire city to believe as well.

In this post I want to look at the way Jesus visits this woman.

Their dialogue begins in verse 7 and ends in verse 27. It contains about 20 sentences. I timed myself reading this dialogue in under 2 minutes. I’ve always thought that’s how long Jesus must have spent with her. He must have done a Jedi mind trick on her…right?

Then I came to verse 29

Come, see a man who told me allthat I have done. Is this not the Christ?

The word “all” jumped out at me. To talk about everything that has happened in a woman’s life (especially this woman) is going to take more than 2 minutes. If I had to guess, I’m thinking this conversation took at least a few hours. When’s the last time you talked to someone about all their problems for a few hours?

What makes this even more impressive is that Jesus was thirsty from His 30 mile hike to get there. This is why He begins the conversation asking for a drink. As we find out after the conversation, He was also hungry. His disciples were shocked that instead of eating He was talking…to a woman. So they “urged Him, saying, Rabbi, eat” (v. 31).

Jesus responded that He already ate 🙂

What was the woman thinking? She knows that Jesus has been travelling and sees that Jesus is thirsty. She knows that drinking is a basic human need. It must have fascinated her that Jesus never ever dropped down the bucket to take a drink…that entire time!

Conclusion:

The woman saw that Jesus had a greater need than eating and drinking. In addition to seeing how much Jesus knew about her, she must have been impressed with how much He loved her! If we would spend a few hours to visit someone and real talk with them, maybe miss a meal because we were so concerned about them, they will be satisfied, we will be satisfied, and God will be satisfied.

Each year hundreds of thousands of members of The Gideons International labor together in 196 countries with the goal of putting the word of God in people’s hands and hearts. Last year alone, 84,632,342 Bibles were handed out. That’s approximately 1.5 million Bibles every week. Currently, The Gideons are on the verge of passing out their two billionth Bible!

A good number of The Gideons are working this very moment on thousands of college campuses. One man they met as a college student was my father. He got a Bible but didn’t start reading it until the struggles came.

He started reading Matthew. He got to the passage in chapter 6 where Jesus says to look at the birds, so he did. He was comforted knowing that our heavenly Father takes care of them. How much more important are we? Don’t be anxious for tomorrow he read, but he still was. It was then that he handed his life over to Jesus Christ and felt an overwhelming sense of peace flood over him. He then went on to read

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you – Matthew 6:33

Upon reading this passage he started seeking for others that he could seek God’s kingdom with. Just like Matthew says in the next chapter, seek and you will find, so he did. He found a group of Christian students on campus and the church.

Another man who was helping the Gideons pass out Bibles during those years was my Grandfather in law, Robert Pratt (Grand Daddy). I appreciate men like him and owe my life to them. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here. I aspire to be like him and share God’s word for the rest of my life.

My wife and I recently inherited a Bible with the Gideon cover on it from her grandparents (next to it are two of my Gideon Bibles). Inside were some notes that were taken by his wife, Ann Pratt.

The first note is the 7 A’s to being filled with the Holy Spirit:

Aspire – Comes to the Hungry
Acknowledge – That we’re empty and impotent
Abandon – Turn loose anything of which the Spirit convicts you
Abdicate – Get off the throne
Ask – John 16:34, Acts 4:31
Appropriate – God says, we believe
Act – Move on and out

Justification – I have been saved from the Penalty of sin
Sanctification – I am being saved from the Power of sin
Glorification – I will be saved from the Presence of sin

I really like this note because it goes further than most people’s definition of salvation – being saved from hell. If that was it then what’s the point of pursuing Christ today? Why not just pursue a career and family and the list goes on…This is the reason many people, especially young people, are off track to the final stage of salvation, glorification.

I got saved when I was 5. I’ve had many ups and downs since then. There was a lot (and still is) that I need to be saved from. I need to be saved right now! The constant presence of the internet provides us with a constant need to be saved, and a way! I can blog about Jesus!

Another great way to be saved is to call on the name of the Lord. If you need to be saved right now then call on the name of the Lord Jesus!

“Lord Jesus!”

For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. – Romans 10:13

Ever since man was kicked out of the Garden of Eden (which means pleasure) and lost God’s presence, he has attempted to invent ways to replace what he lost. In Genesis chapter 4, Cain killed his brother Abel then proceeded to build a city and produce a culture without God. Cain’s descendants began to provide for themselves by raising cattle and making tents to live in. They protected themselves by forging weapons. Finally, they entertained themselves by inventing musical instruments.

satan’s strategies

When satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he did so in these three ways. He told Jesus to turn the stones into bread for His provision. He told Jesus to jump off the temple and a legion of angels would protect Him. Finally, he offered Jesus the whole world and all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Jesus didn’t take it. He overcame Satan’s temptation and now it’s our turn.

Thousands of years later, not much has changed. The difference is that we have a lot more ways to provide for ourselves, protect ourselves and please ourselves.

Here are a few numbers I found that show what we are buying/consuming/ being consumed by.

The bad news is our jobs consume us and have become a huge distraction from God. People are spending more time at work to make more money, for what? We work so much so we can please ourselves with so many things we think can satisfy us. Even if we get everything we want, we still worry about protecting it. This is why we have home security systems, car insurance, health insurance, life insurance… I even have cell phone insurance. In the past, my cell phone has been a huge distraction from God. Even before iphones it was easy to veg out and play snake for hours, trying to beat your friend’s high score. Now, phones can browse the internet. We all know how much time is lost there.

I want to use my phone and use the internet to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16) . If you do too, start reading the Bible on your phone and text your friends what you read. The Bible is more important than all of the other things we spend our time doing and best of all, it’s free! Check out the free Recovery Version Study Bible.

The good news is God wants to be our Provision, Protection, and Pleasure. We can see this in the Bible. Psalm 34 is a good chapter that shows us God is our provision. Psalm 34:8 says ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.’ Psalm 34:10 says ‘The young lions hunger and starve, But those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.’

God is our protection in Psalm 61:3, ‘For you are a refuge to me, A strong tower before the enemy.’ Also good is Proverbs 18:10 ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous man runs into it and is safe.’ That’s awesome! We can run into a strong tower by calling on the Lord’s name. Our running equals our calling. “LORD JESUS!!! The very next verse, Proverbs 18:11 says, ‘The rich man’s substance is his strong city and like a high wall in his own imagination. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.’ “LORD JESUS!!!” God is our pleasure in Psalm 43:4 ‘I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.’ Finally, Romans 5:11 says “We also joy in God’ (KJV).

I hope I helped you redeem some time today. To redeem some more time, please add to this. I know there are many more verses to include.

In Acts 18 there is a married couple named Priscilla and Aquila. They worked together and ministered the word of God together.

Where did they work?

They travelled around working with the Apostle Paul (Acts18:18) with their hands (Acts 20:34). They supported themselves by making tents.

Although the Bible doesn’t talk much about their trade, it does talk about their ministry.

Who did they minister to?

One man they ministered to was Apollos. He was eloquent, powerful in the scriptures, instructed in the way of the Lord, fervent in spirit, and he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus. He also spoke boldly in the Synagogue.

As good as this sounds, something was missing. Apollos only knew about the baptism of John.

What happens next is very impressive. Apollos humbles himself and acknowledges that he doesn’t know everything and that there is something that this husband and wife have that he doesn’t. I respect this most about Apollos. Not many big shot preachers are willing to humble themselves like Apollos and listen to what others have to say. Especially to a man and a woman who made tents for a living.

How did they minister?

According to the Greek in Acts 18:26, it is believed that Priscilla and Aquila brought Apollos into their home first and fed him, then they talked. The Greek word proslambano translated “to take to oneself” also implies to “use food, friendship, and hospitality.” This probably had something to do with opening Apollos’ heart to hear the way of God expounded more accurately (Acts 18:26). Had they pulled him aside at the podium or back stage it might not have gone over too well. Point is, a lot can happen in a home! With food and friends!

What did they minister?

They ministered the way of God. Since Apollos only knew the baptism of John, Priscilla and Aquila probably touched on topics like the Body of Christ since that is what we are baptized into, not just the baptism of John.

What’s wrong with the baptism of John?

John’s baptism was a call to repent and prepare a way for the Lord Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just missing something. Many Christians today have been saved and baptized but they’re still missing something, and they know it. They need “the Way” that Priscilla and Aquila were preaching and living. This “Way” was what the Apostle Paul was preaching and living. This “Way” is what every genuine believer has followed. They were even persecuted for following “the Way” (Acts 9:2, 19:9, 23).

Notice how the word “Way” is capitalized in the Bible. It must be important!

What is “the Way?”

The Way – Denoting the Lord’s full salvation in God’s New Testament economy. It is the way God dispenses Himself into the believers through Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s anointing; it is the way the believers partake of God and enjoy God; it is the way the believers worship God in their spirit by enjoying Him and follow the persecuted Jesus by being one with Him; and it is the way the believers are brought into the church and built up into the Body of Christ to bear the testimony of Jesus – Acts 9:2 Footnote 1

What is “full salvation”?

“Full salvation” means that there is more to being saved than repenting from sin and accepting Christ Jesus as Lord and savior. This is where many Christians stop. This is why many Christians stop growing and remain “infants” (1 Cor. 3:1). “God’s full salvation” includes the judicial aspect of repenting and the organic aspect of growing.

What is God’s dispensing?

“God’s dispensing” means God is feeding us with the pure milk of the word so we can grow (1 Peter 2:2). This is the organic aspect of salvation. John the Baptist and Apollos preached about the judicial aspect of salvation. They probably condemned people of their sin and charged them to repent. Priscilla and Aquila nourished Apollos with food (both physical and spiritual). There is a big difference here! Organic salvation is more than having knowledge of the Bible in our mind (which John and Apollos had). It means we have a spirit that needs to be fed. Jesus is our food! We need to eat HIM! (John 6:57).

In conclusion, there are many Apollos today. There are also some Priscillas and Aquilas. To find a home like Priscilla’s and Aquila’s full of friends, food, and fellowship, check out this link:

Last Lord’s day we went to a going away dinner for my friend, Joseph Newman. When the waiter brought us bread to eat Joseph looked at me and asked for some wine. What he was really asking for was something to nourish him spiritually. I shared with him about the first supper.

Many people are familiar with the last supper. This is recorded in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22. The day before Jesus went to be crucified, He broke bread with His disciples and drank wine. He said it symbolized His body being broken and His blood being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Then He says, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”

Every week, this is what we do on the Lord’s day. We eat unleavened bread and drink wine. This has been a very special time for me to remember the Lord and all He’s done. He’s given Himself for us. What a supply of joy and peace when we give ourselves back to Him!

Last Lord’s day, a brother uplifted my view of the Lord’s supper. He shared about the first supper. The first mention of bread and wine being served is in Genesis chapter 14. Abraham was in a fierce battle in an attempt to free his nephew Lot from captivity. The problem was that he had to fight against 4 kings to get him back. These kings had cities full of soldiers compared to Abraham’s 318 men. So how did they pull out the win?

While Abraham and his men were fighting, there was someone interceding for them. This was Melchizedek, a type of Christ as the kingly priest. How else could Abraham have defeated so many armies? What a victory!

Not only did Melchizedek pray for Abraham, he came out to meet him and brought out bread and wine to supply him. This was also to celebrate God’s victory!

Christ’s death on the cross is a victory! Jesus Christ conquered satan! We were all slaves but Christ has set us free! This is why we come together to be supplied and to praise Him for His victory. This is what will bring Jesus out to meet us.

I was having a not so victorious day this week then I get a call from my friend Gustavo. He is shouting Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Again, I didn’t feel victorious but that doesn’t matter. The victory is won! Praise the Lord for that! I joined in the praise. At the end of our talk, Gustavo encouraged me to preach the Lord’s victory. So here it is. I would like to encourage you to preach Jesus Christ’s victory too 🙂

In 1 Corinthians 3, the Apostle Paul pointed out that the church, the believers, is actually God’s cultivated land and God’s building. Cultivated land denotes a field that has been worked on for raising crops. If the church is God’s cultivated land, what is God growing in the church?

According to the divine revelation, what is being grown in the believers is simply Christ Himself (Col. 1:27-28). This marvelous Person is the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). The Trinity is alluded in the same chapter as “gold, silver, and precious stones,” symbols for each of the Trinity, in the order of the Father, Son, and Spirit, in their virtues and attributes, as the yieldings of God’s cultivation. This means that God is causing Himself to grow in the Church.

In consideration on the matter of the believers being God’s cultivated land, I am beginning to realize humanity’s potential as a vast fertile land in growing possibilities and futures. Inside each person’s heart is a cradle of ideas and dreams that are growing and coming to fruition (just ask Mister Rogers). Even the modernity of this age and the advancement of today’s technologies have had their beginnings in the hearts of men. Our society is forged from the dreams of those who dare to dream and ideas of those who create. Everything begins in man’s heart.

The Gardener of our Hearts

Every cultivated land has an owner, and every garden has a gardener. In this sense, who is the gardener of our hearts? The first few answers popped into my head are: teachers, parents, mentors, friends, and self. Going back to 1 Corinthians 3, Paul pointed out that the believers are a garden that belongs to God. Though it is the apostles that sow and water, the gardener of the believers is actually God himself. The fact that the ownership of our hearts, the soil, belongs to God is full of conviction.

While as an unbeliever, I would have the right to grow whatever ideas I wanted and wished. Now as a believer, I am beginning to realize that I need to hand over my “land” to God. Thus, I would pray in this way: “Lord, make Your home in my heart today.” Through this prayer, I hope that God would have a free reign in growing whatever He desires in me.

The Guardian of our Hearts

A human heart does not expand without limits. Therefore, we only have a limited amount of space for God to grow within us. In our experiences, it is easy for something else to come in to occupy our hearts and stunts God’s own growth and development within us. This is why we need to guard our hearts. The secret of guarding our hearts is in Philippians 4:6-7:

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

The Fruits of our Hearts

Let me progress further on another point: As believers, God is growing in us as a living person. This is intrinsically different from all other ideas and dreams, because they are non-living entities.

Unbelievers may look at Christians and not see things this way. They may think that the differences between us and them is that our ideas and dreams are just Christian in theme. Yet, it is our knowledge and experiences that tell us what we have is not doctrines, concepts, ideas, and dreams. Rather, we have Christ, a living person, who lives inside of us, grows within us, stands with us, supplies us, straightens us, perfects us, and enlivens us to live Him.

The relationship between us and the Christ who is within us is a co-dependent relationship. There is an definite of mutuality there. As a person, Christ processes His own set of considerations, concerns, and determinations. This Person listens to us, speaks to us, and directs us. These are qualities ideas and dreams do not process, because they are not real living persons, but just simply our own creative imaginative thoughts (our understanding of the doctrine, our own theology, can also fall into this category, especially when, instead of supporting, it frustrates the growth of this living One).

Furthermore, when Christ grows in us, we become one with Him and our living becomes a corporate living with Him. This was the Apostle Paul’s experience revealed in Galatians 2:20:

I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

In light of the second metaphor of the church being God’s building, as Christ is growing in us, He is also changing us in a fundamental way. This is transformation (2 Cor. 3:18). The issues of transformation are the “gold, silver, and precious stones,” which are also the building materials for God’s building. In other words, the Christ that grows in us is the building materials of God’s building.

What a contrast: While the unbelievers are growing in themselves ideas and dreams that are contributing to the world in this age, God is growing in the believers an eternal building that will last for eternity! What a marvelous revelation!